Our Picks This Month

Rhododendrons

Why We Love Them
Low-growing ground covers, medium-sized shrubs, tree-size plants; ball-shaped, spreading, upright - rhododendrons are stunning and versatile garden workhorses. Use as specimen plants, incorporate in a bed or border with other shrubs, even use tall-growers as privacy screens. We suggest planting in groups of three to avoid a "spotty" look.

Staff Favorites
'Nova Zembla' - cold hardy rhododendron prized for its large trusses of showy, bright red flowers

'Dreamland' - cold tolerant specimen with soft pink flowers; protection from winter wind is helpful

'Cherry Cheesecake' - compact and resilient plant; flowers have a white background with ruffled dark pink to red edges

Topiaries

Why We Love Them
Coming in a wide variety of shapes and colors, topiaries manage to be both classic and whimsical at the same time. No matter what your garden style, there's a topiary to fit your tastes! Currently in stock are Juniper, Eugenia, Boxwood, Euonymus, and more. Come look around and find that special something you've been missing...

Staff Favorites
Lemon Cypress - well-suited to containers; has a pronounced lemony scent and bright yellow foliage.

'Little Ollie' Dwarf Olive - dwarf, non-fruiting evergreen with a graceful growth habit; attractive as a formal hedge or specimen shrub.

Le Potager: Garden Like A Francophile

Looking for a garden project to keep the winter blues at bay? Take a page out of the French playbook and plant your own potager! The potager is a year-round garden, tasked with providing a household with fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers throughout the seasons. It is also an essential part of French cuisine and culture.

It's exciting to have fresh produce at your doorstep, especially during months when most gardens have gone to sleep. Yamagami's carries a wide variety of cold-weather herbs and vegetables favored in French gardens and kitchens. Most are unavailable in local grocery stores, which means the only way to enjoy these delicacies is to grow them yourself.

Don't worry - it's easy, and the results will be très délicieux!

Chervil

Why We Love It
Sometimes called "French parsley", chervil is a delicate annual herb commonly used in French cooking. It possesses a mild aniseed flavor and is excellent grown in pots. Use a fertilizer rich in nitrogen to encourage leaf growth.

Culinary Suggestions

• Use chervil to make your own fines herbes, a delicate herb blend used extensively in French cooking (other ingredients are parsley, tarragon, and chives).
• Chervil is delicious with eggs - add to an omelet or sprinkle on scrambled eggs.

French Sorrel

Why We Love It
Sorrel is grown extensively in French vegetable gardens. Flavor-wise, it's halfway between a salad green and an herb. In the garden, it prefers a sunny location with rich, moist soil. Harvest leaves on an as-needed basis and remove flower stalks when they appear.

Culinary Suggestions

• Add to mixed-leaf and herb salads.

• Lightly sauté in butter with shallots, deglaze with sherry, then mix all with goat cheese and use as an omelet filling.

Shallots

Why We Love Them
Possessing hints of both garlic and onion, the shallot has a character all its own. In the kitchen, it adds a refined flavor to many dishes. In the garden, it is prolific and carefree, once established. Shallots also repel many pests, including fruit tree borers, aphids, and some nematodes. This makes them ideal companions for other crops.

Staff Favorites
'Camelot' - produces high yields of 1 to 1 1/2" diameter red bulbs; excellent choice for home gardens.

Culinary Suggestions

• Sauté chopped shallots in butter or olive oil with sliced mushrooms and a heavy pinch of Herbes de Provence; stir in eggs and scramble; top with goat cheese, chervil, and freshly ground pepper.

• Cook sliced shallots with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs until shallots are caramelized and thighs are browned; add a splash of white wine or champagne, cover pan and cook 25-30 minutes, until chicken juices run clear.

Frisée

Why We Love It
A member of the chicory family, this feathery vegetable is often used in the special salad mix, mesclun. Like its relatives, it has a mildly bitter flavor, though it is much milder than some of its cousins. Frisée loves the sun and isn't fazed by a light frost. Some people even claim frisée planted in fall and winter is superior in taste.

Staff Favorites
'Maraichere' - Space 6-8" apart to produce small dense heads with blanched hearts of fine salad size.

Culinary Suggestions

• Quickly sauté in olive oil with salt and pepper until evenly wilted but still crunchy; add a dash of lemon juice before serving.

• Fry some bacon, dice, and make a warm vinaigrette using some of its rendered fat with olive oil, mustard and lemon juice; toss with frisée, then top with bacon, toasted croutons, and shaved Gruyère cheese.

Mâché

Why We Love It
Once treated as a weed, mâché is now considered one of the finest, most delicate salad greens. Easily grown from seed, sow mâché directly into your garden when the weather turns cool. It takes up to 60 days to mature, but you can snip off and eat outer leaves while the plant is growing.

Staff Favorites
'Big-Seeded' - mildest flavor of any salad green; leaves are "melt-in-your-mouth" tender

Culinary Suggestions

• A simple salad showcases mâché's delicate nature; drizzle with walnut or hazelnut oil, or toss with a simple vinaigrette.

Carrots

Why We Love Them
There's no finer treat than a fresh, homegrown carrot! The French varieties below are known garden performers: reliable, consistent, and delicious. Sow seeds every 3 weeks to reap a consistent crop throughout spring.

Staff Favorites
'Scarlet Nantes' - 1850s' French favorite known for sweet flavor and tender flesh; nearly coreless.

'Red-Cored Chantenay' - 1800s French heirloom; reliable even in heavy or shallow soils; crisp and sweet.

Culinary Suggestions

• Raw carrots make excellent chip substitutes for dips or hummus.

• Roughly grate carrots with a box grater; sauté in butter with a pinch of nutmeg.

Radishes

Why We Love Them
Grown in cool weather, radishes are crisp and sweet (summer heat increases their spiciness). Combine that with their quick garden turnaround, and you have a winner! Sow directly into the ground, or grow in containers; they don't need much space.

Staff Favorites
'Petit Dejeuner' - delicious mix of two French market types; includes both round and cylindrical varieties; crisp and succulent roots size up quickly.

Culinary Suggestions

• Chop and sauté radish greens with minced ginger and garlic; add a dash of soy sauce and serve.

• Slice fresh radishes and serve alongside hummus or spinach & artichoke dip.

• Slice radishes and lightly sauté in butter until tender; serve on toast with chopped chervil sprinkled on top.

Don't Wait 'Til Spring...

...Design Your Best Garden Now!

At Yamagami's, we're invested in every stage of your garden success- including the idea stage! We're fortunate to have two skilled, passionate landscape designers on staff, ready to help make your garden dreams a reality.

Hannah Soriano is a licensed landscape contractor with a BA in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz, emphasis on Agroecology. She also studied Landscape Design at Cabrillo College. Hannah is comfortable with all garden styles, and is particularly passionate about vegetable gardens, California native gardens, and water-wise gardens.

Like Hannah, Jeannie Mack is comfortable designing a wide range of gardens. She especially loves gardens that feature lush greenery, succulents, and ferns. Jeannie has an AS degree in Horticulture from Foothill College, with an emphasis on design.

Not limited to yards, Hannah and Jeannie also create resplendent container gardens. Their focus on plant-forward design sets them apart from others in their field. Both are continually delighted and inspired by Yamagami's extensive selection of unusual and difficult-to-obtain plants, and their enthusiasm shines through in each and every project.

Our talented designers are adept at bringing their clients' ideas to fruition. Let them help your garden stand apart from the rest!

12 Days of Christmas SALE

On the 12 days of Christmas, my nursery gave to me... deals and discounts galore! Celebrate the season with gifts for gardeners of every age.

Here's a rundown of what's still to come:

Friday, 12/14 - 30% Off all Fruit Trees, including Citrus & Sub-Tropicals

Saturday, 12/15 - 30% Off all Garden Gear: Hats, Gloves, & Shoes

Sunday, 12/16 - 30% Off all Windchimes, Giftware, & Fairy Garden Items

Monday, 12/17 - 30% Off all Succulents & Cacti

Tuesday, 12/18 - 30% Off all Pottery, Statuary, & Fountains

Wednesday, 12/19 - 30% Off all Garden Tools

Thursday, 12/20 - 30% Off all Gallon + Larger Plants

Friday, 12/21 - 30% Off all Soil, Fertilizer, & Mulches

Saturday, 12/22 - 30% Off all Trellises, Topiary Frames, & Arbors

Sunday, 12/23 - 40% Off Your Entire Purchase!
Excludes discounts on Design Consults, Landscape Design, Labor, Delivery, & Sod. Open 9am - 2pm.

Dec. 12th - Dec. 23rd

12 Days of Christmas SALE

Dec. 24th - Dec. 26th

CLOSED - Happy Holidays!

Dec. 31st - Jan. 1st

CLOSED - Happy New Year